Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
He stopped in front of her then dropped to a crouch. “I might not have an ex-soldier’s instincts to take command, to give orders, but I have something better.”
“And what’s that?” Tessa asked, happy that she managed the question in an even tone and not filled with the breathless anticipation she felt. This wasn’t going how she’d thought it would, how her other scenes had gone.
It didn’t feel like a scene at all.
“Curiosity. I like to learn. To study.” Dropping to one knee, he wrapped his hand around her ankle, sliding his fingers under the fabric of the loose pajama pants she was wearing. “And then I take that knowledge and I apply it. I develop theories.” His hand pushed her pant leg up to her knee, exposing her lower leg. “I test those theories. I seek out evidence to support them.” He ran his fingertips up her calf, then gently teased the skin at the back of her knee.
All he’d done was touch her leg and her whole body was on fire with need. She could feel her pussy getting wet and soft and wanting. She usually needed time to get ready. It was one of the reasons D/s had been good for her. D/s had taught her that whatever she needed to make sex good was all right. That she could go at her pace and expect her partner to be okay with it. D/s had taught her to take sex seriously, to be thoughtful.
She didn’t want to think with this man. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have to.
“You have a theory about me?” She tried to make the words flippant, but they didn’t come out that way.
David kneaded her calf muscle for a moment, then stood. When he held out his hand, she took it, responding to the unspoken command and letting him pull her to her feet.
“I do.”
Was that all she was getting? “What’s your theory?”
“If I tell you it will skew my study,” he said almost absently since he was staring down at her like he was trying to memorize her face.
“You’re going to study me?” She wasn’t sure she would be able to handle all that intensity focused her way. When David was fascinated with a subject, it held all of his attention. What would it be like to have this gorgeous, smart man give her every bit of his focus?
“Yes. I am.” He reached out and put two fingers under her chin, tilting her head up and forcing her to look into his eyes. “You want that, don’t you?”
“Yes.” The word was almost a plea. She was so turned on that each breath felt heavy and wet with need.
“Do you think that’s an appropriate way to address me?” The question was asked on a soft tone, but there was steel beneath it.
“You want me to call you ‘Sir’?”
“While that would be appropriate, what we have is special, so I think we’ll use a different, special, term.”
She winced, briefly pulled out of the moment because the word special was too close to home. She was afraid what was happening between them was special, and that scared her. “David, I told you. This is just sex. Maybe we shouldn’t be so…”
“Professor,” he said, ignoring her outburst. “You will call me Professor when you’re submitting.”
“Professor.” She’d been sort of hoping he’d make her call him “Master Hawthorne.” She was more than willing. But then she’d called a lot of tops Master this or that. She’d never called one Professor and never would in the future. Even if she never touched him again, David would always be her professor.
“You called me professor as a joke before. Tonight the word is going to have a different meaning.” David once more touched her chin, but this time he slid his curled fingers back, grazing the sensitive skin below her ear. Then his hand slid under her hair, around the back of her neck, sending a shiver of anticipation down her spine.
“But before we go any further, there’s something we need to do,” David said.
They should talk about limits, safe words. If they weren’t simply going to go at it hard, they should—
“Something I’ve needed to do since the first night I met you,” he murmured.
David closed the distance between them and sealed his lips over hers. Tessa’s eyes widened before fluttering closed. His kiss was sure and strong but not forceful. When his tongue touched the seam of her lips, it was a request not a command, and she yielded to him, opening her mouth to let his tongue sweep inside. She tasted him as he tasted her, and the arousal he’d kindled to life in her both flared hotter and burned deeper, touching parts of her soul that a simple kiss shouldn’t be able to reach.
The first time they’d kissed, she’d made the move. It had been good, but this was something more. This felt like a beginning.